The anglers who spend their time fishing the lake in Milwaukee said the lake hasn't been this low since 1964.

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Veteran fishermen said on other side of harbor inlet, wood pilings have been exposed below the concrete wall. In a typical year, those pilings would be under water.

Humberto Aviles said from what he's noticed happening, he's not surprised to hear the lake could break a record low over the winter.

"Now it's been like two and a half or three feet lower than in the past years and the fishing has kind of been slowing down too," Aviles said.

Paul Roebber is an atmospheric scientist with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's School of Freshwater Sciences.

He recently published research reporting not only historic low water in Lake Michigan but also record high water temperatures, which he attributes to climate change.

"Certainly from a commercial standpoint and from a fisheries standpoint, it's a big problem if the lake levels go either too low or too high," Roebber said. "So superimposed on those cycles that are normal is something else that's going on. The water-temperature warming that we're talking about now is driving that evaporation, that is something new. That's not something we've seen before."

Roebber said the full impact of lower water at a higher temperature is still being studied. But he expects this to be a record-setting winter for Lake Michigan.

Lake Michigan lake-level records have been recorded since 1860. A new record for the low-water mark is expected by the end of March.